Reward Chart I prayed Day One Day Two Day Three Day Four Day Five Day Six Day Seven Bonus DAY I Read My Devotion I Completed the Challenge!
Learning to Pray Day 1 Jesus, I just want to talk to You. You are a great big God, but I know You are my Friend and You are listening. All About Prayer Try to guess what all of these things have in common: a text message, sign language, a phone call, and a walkie-talkie. These are all things people use to communicate with each other. But how do people communicate with God? By using a tool He gave us prayer! Let s answer some important questions about prayer. Who? Prayer is between you and God. When you pray, you are actually talking to the God of the universe. Stop and think about that... you are talking to this great big God who made the world and made you, the God who placed the stars in the sky and brings the sun up every morning. That is quite a thought! Even though God does all of those things, He is also your friend (Revelation 3:20). 14
What? Why? What is prayer? If you said, Talking to God and hearing Him talk to you, you were right! It really is that simple. Prayer is telling God how you are feeling and what is on your mind. Sometimes prayer means just being still and quiet. It is thinking about God and listening to His voice in your heart (Jeremiah 33:3). Where and When? Where and when can you pray? You can pray anywhere and anytime! That is the wonderful thing about God: He is always there for you. You might pray in your bed, in the shower, in the car, or at the dinner table. You can pray in the morning, in the middle of the night, or anytime in between. There is never a time or place where God cannot hear your prayers (Psalm 139:7 10). Who is your closest friend? What would happen if you could never talk to that person again? Just like you cannot have a relationship with a friend without talking and listening, you cannot have a relationship with God without talking and listening to Him. The most important reason we pray is so that we can know God (James 4:8). Prayer Challenge Practice just talking to God. Don t worry about what you think you should say; just say whatever comes to your mind. Jesus cares much more about what is in your heart (the things you are really feeling and thinking) than what you think you are supposed to say. Tell Him about something in your life that makes you happy or sad. When you are finished talking, be very quiet, listen with your heart, and see if you think God is saying anything to you. Last, have your mom or dad get you a blank journal. You will use the journal to write down different prayers as you read this book.
Father, help me to pray every day... and to remember that You love me no matter what! Day 2 The Best Habit Biting your nails, blowing bubbles with chewing gum, chewing on pencils, not making your bed... do any of those habits sound familiar? What are some of your good and bad habits? A habit is something you do so many times, it s almost like you can t stop! If you develop a good habit, like praying, great things can happen. Everyday Prayers The apostle Paul told new believers in Jesus, Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He knew that he could pray all the time. In fact, Paul s whole day could be one long prayer. He could wake up talking to God and fall asleep still talking to God. (Of course, he would take some breaks in between!) Here are ways you could make prayer a habit: Find a prayer friend. This is someone who will pray with you and for you, and who will remind you to pray when you might forget or get too busy.
Write your prayers in your journal. This will help you to focus on what you want to say to God, so your mind doesn t wander! You can also keep a prayer list in your journal. Pray in your bed. Every night before you fall asleep, let your last words and thoughts be directed toward Jesus. Set an alarm to remind you. You could have it ring a few minutes earlier than usual in the morning, so you can pray before your day begins. No-Matter-What Love True or false: The more I pray, the more God will love me. False! You see, we always need to be reminded that God loves us no matter what we do. If you prayed only one time a year or twenty times a day, God would love you exactly the same. (And believe me, it s a lot of love!) We don t pray so that God will love us more; we pray so that we can know Him. We pray so that He can help us when we need it, and so that our minds can be focused on Him, not on all the bad stuff that happens in this world. Prayer Challenge Ask God to help you make prayer a habit. Pray that He will remind you when you might forget and that He will help you want to pray every day. Tell Him you want to know Him more and that you need Him to lead you and guide you. Also practice praying at the same time each day. You will soon have a new habit... the best habit of all!
Thank You Prayers Lord, I come to You today, and before anything else, I say thank You. Day 3 Enter with Thanksgiving Pretend you are a king or queen. Try to make a throne in the biggest chair you can find, and see if you can find some kind of crown. Have each person in your family enter the room one at a time, and have them greet you like they would greet royalty. They might bow, say something kind, or bring you a gift. Honor and Respect Just as we would greet a king or queen with kindness, Psalm 100 reminds us to enter into God s presence with a thankful heart. In fact, verse 4 says, Come into his city with songs of thanksgiving. Even though we know we can talk to God anytime and anywhere, we need to remember that it is a big privilege to do this. God is not one of your school buddies or someone to whom you might yell, Hey, dude! What s up? He is God, and showing Him respect shows Him that we
love Him and want to treat Him differently than we treat just anyone. Imagine you were invited to the White House to meet the president. Would you burst through the doors, give a high five, and right away start asking the president for things you want to be changed? Of course not! You would walk in politely, show respect, and maybe say something kind. If we would treat the president, who is just a person, that way, shouldn t we show even more respect to God, who is the Maker and Ruler of all? So when we enter into God s presence, when we come to Him in prayer, the first thing we should do is say thank You. Prayer Challenge When you wake up in the morning, let the first words out of your mouth be, Thank You, God! Write Psalm 100 in your prayer journal, and read it every day. Begin each of your prayers by thanking God for something He has given to you or done for you. A List of Thanks In the weeks ahead, we are going to talk about many things we can be thankful for. Start brainstorming now about all the things you have been given. Remember, God is the giver of every gift in your life. First, practice by telling each person in your family thank you for something they have done or given to you. Then make a list with your family of everything you would like to thank God for. Start with something like your home. It will be a long list, I m sure!
Wow! Prayers Jesus, You are God, and You are great. If we don t praise You, creation will! Day 4 What Is Praise? Who is someone you admire? Say three different things about why you admire that person and what makes them special, and then have every family member take a turn doing the same. Admiring God Just like you were saying those things about the person you admire, the Bible tells us to do that for God. To praise means to say good things about someone. It means to give thanks to God or express love for Him. When you are praising God, you are telling Him that He is great and wonderful and better than anything. You are telling Him how much you love Him, and you are worshipping Him. Psalm 92:1 says, It is good to praise the Lord, to sing praises to God Most High. Praising God reminds us of who He is and all He has done for us. Did you know that even creation itself offers praise to God?
Creation s Praise Read Psalm 148 and talk about all the different parts of creation that offer Him praise. Can you imagine the sun praising God? The waters, the mountains, the rocks? One time when Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, people who had seen His great works were shouting praises to Him. Some Pharisees told Jesus to make them stop, but Jesus said, I tell you, if my followers don t say these things, then the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40). Wow! God is so worthy of our praise that if we do not give it to Him, creation will. God is bigger and better than our minds could ever understand. Giving Him praise reminds us that He is good, powerful, wise, faithful, full of mercy and love... and much, much more. Prayer Challenge Do you have a favorite praise song? It can be any song that talks about God and how great He is. Begin your time of prayer each day by singing a song of praise to God. You could do this with your family or by yourself. As you are singing, try to picture Jesus smiling down at you, enjoying your praise.
I m Sorry! Prayers Jesus, I mess up a lot! I need to tell You about what I have done wrong. Day 5 Confession Use some washable markers to give each person in your family a dot on the tip of their nose. Be sure not to let them see what color you use. Now, have someone put a dot on the tip of your nose without your knowing the color either. This may look a little funny! Can you see the color on your nose? Can you guess what it is? Take turns letting everyone guess what color is on their own nose. We All Sin I am sure you have heard of the word sin. A sin is anything you do that is wrong in God s eyes. Many times, just like with the marker dots, it is much easier to see someone else s sin than it is to see our own. We often don t think we are doing anything wrong, when really, we are. Here is a list of some sins we struggle with: lying, cheating, being disobedient, being unkind,
using mean words, disrespecting grown-ups, having a bad attitude, looking at things we shouldn t, thinking thoughts that are not right, and worrying too much. God knows we are not perfect, but when we act like this, we are actually sinning against Him. First John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins.... He will make us clean from all the wrongs we have done. We need God to help us see our sin. Can you ask Him for His help? Prayer Challenge Take your prayer journal and write down one thing you need to confess to God. If you can t think of anything, pray for a little bit, then try again. He promises to hear you and, even better, to forgive you. Telling God Does 1 John 1:9 say that we can sin and then God will automatically forgive us? No, look closer. Is there something that we need to do before God forgives us? What is it? We have to confess our sins to God. Confession is a fancy word that means telling someone something. To confess our sins means to tell God about the things we have done wrong. Even though God already knows that you have sinned, it is important for you to tell Him about it. It may sound something like this: Lord, yesterday I pushed my sister because I was angry. I am sorry for pushing her. Please forgive me. That is confessing your sin to God.
Help! Prayers Jesus, I want to talk to You about someone in my family who needs You today. Day 6 Help for My Family What do you love most about your family? Have each person answer these questions: What is your favorite family memory? What are some funny things that have happened in our family? What is the hardest thing we have ever been through as a family? Where to Go Sometimes we pray because someone we know needs help. The book of Psalms is full of prayers from people crying out for help. Where do you go when you need help? What about the times when you are really sad, and you just don t see how things are going to get better? Where do you go then? Psalm 121:1 2 says, I look up to the hills. But where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He made heaven and earth. Of course! You go to the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who says His thoughts about you are more than the number of grains of sand (Psalm 139:17 18)!
Your Team Prayer Challenge When we were learning to pray with thankful hearts, we talked about our families. God gave you a family so you would have people to be with in life. He said it wasn t good for man to be alone, and so He made the family. Your family can be there for you; they re kind of like your team. You are together, and no one should ever come between you. Just as your family can be there for you when you need them, you can be there for them when they need you. And one of the best ways to do that is to pray for them. Is anyone in your family sick? Is anyone in your family going through a hard time? You might want to stop and pray for them now, and remind them that their help comes from the Lord. Make a Family Prayer List. Have each person say something they would like you to pray for, and write that something down next to their name. Each day, pick one person and talk about them to God. Tell Him what they need, and ask Him for His help. If you run out of people during the week, just start over! Think of yourself as holding them up as you bring them to Jesus. Your help comes from Him!
God, help me to take a break from thinking and doing, and just sit still and be with You. How to Listen Day 7 Being Still Have someone in your family whisper a long, madeup sentence in your ear while you are wriggling all around or jumping up and down. Then have them whisper a new sentence to you while you are sitting completely still and quiet. Which sentence could you hear the best? Which one could you remember the most? Why do you think that is? The First Step We have learned a lot about how to talk to God how to thank Him, praise Him, confess to Him, and ask Him for all kinds of help. But there is much more to praying than just talking to God... that is only half of it! If you had a friend who talked to you all the time and never stopped to listen to what you had to say, how would you feel? If we want to be close to God, we have to learn how to listen to His voice. And the first step to hearing God s voice is being still.
Calm and Quiet In Psalm 46:10, God said, Be quiet and know that I am God (nlv). Being still and quiet before God helps us to hear Him. It takes away things that distract us. Sometimes we get so busy doing things we think are important that we are never still long enough to hear God speak to us. Being still and quiet actually takes practice! Having some times of quiet can be very good for you and for your heart. Psalm 131:2 says, I am calm and quiet.... I am at peace, like a baby with its mother. God loves for us to come to Him, calm and quiet, listening for His voice. Prayer Challenge After you finish praying, practice being totally still and quiet for three minutes. Make sure you are in a quiet place by yourself. You might think about things that happened that day, or you might think about God and what He is doing in your life right now. Try to stop your mind from wandering, and keep thinking about Him. I think you will like it!
Jesus Prayers Lord, thank You for showing me how important it is to pray. You are my example. Bonus Day 8 Jesus Prayed Find a picture of your favorite animal and look at it for ten seconds. Then put it away and try to draw it. Now try drawing it one more time, but this time with the picture right in front of you. How different were the pictures you drew? I bet your second drawing turned out more like your example! Just like you would copy or imitate that picture, you can copy and imitate the things that Jesus did while He was on earth including praying. And just like it was easier to copy a picture when you kept looking at the original, the more you keep your eyes on Jesus, the better you ll be able to follow His example. How Jesus Prayed We can see in the Bible how Jesus prayed. Read the following verses out loud, and then talk about what they have in common:
Mark 1:35: Early the next morning, Jesus woke and left the house while it was still dark. He went to a place to be alone and pray. Matthew 14:23: After he said good-bye to them, he went alone up into the hills to pray. It was late, and Jesus was there alone. Luke 6:12: At that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray. He stayed there all night, praying to God. Jesus loved to get away by Himself, late at night or early in the morning, and talk to His Father. It was during those times of prayer that God would give Jesus the strength He needed to carry out His mission on earth. If Jesus needed that strength from God, don t we need it too? During the next few weeks, we will look at the different prayers that Jesus prayed. We will hear Him teach His disciples how to pray, and we will listen to His final prayers on the cross. Jesus was always talking to His Father... the same Father you can talk to any time of day or night. Prayer Challenge Ask your mom or dad if you can get up a little bit earlier, or go to bed a little bit later, so that you can pray like Jesus often did alone in a quiet place. Just thank Him, tell Him He is great, confess your sins to Him, and ask Him for His help. Then be still and listen. You will be following Jesus example and making God s heart happy.